Garrett Holeve, an MMA Fighter With Down Syndrome, Is Changing the Sport

Garrett Holeve, an MMA Fighter With Down Syndrome, Is Changing the Sport
Chris Sweeney

"I'm dangerous," 23-year-old Garrett Holeve warns as he bounces around a bedroom in his parents' suburban, single-story house, throwing punches and kicks. A pungent combination of protein-powered farts, dirty laundry, and ball sweat permeates the air.

"I'll hurt a guy real bad," Garrett brags. "I'll be covered in too much blood, and I'll keep hurting him. Kick him in the mouth so hard the mouth guard flies out."

The words don't roll off his tongue. They bunch up in his throat and pour out in a slurred manner that's difficult to understand. This is just one of the ways Garrett's Down syndrome manifests itself.

"Oh, umm," he stammers frequently when looking for an answer. "Finding a fight takes time. My friend Chris is going to get me a fight."

He carries other telltale physical characteristics of the genetic condition: small ears that look like half-hearts, almond-shaped eyes, wide hands with short fingers, and a small, round mouth. Further affecting his health is rheumatoid arthritis that afflicts his right knee.

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Garrett, however, perked up and a few weeks later walked into an American Top Team training facility in Davie. "I was like, '****, how do I teach someone with Down syndrome?'" says Rodrigo "Braga" Ramos, a barrel-chested 36-year-old professional fighter who runs that facility.

Balls to anyone who says it's not an appropriate activity for him. The kid's found something that he can really connect with and it obviously means a lot to him. Some people go through the motions in their whole lives never finding that. What kind of asshole would want to take that away from him?

Now, I may be showing my ignorance, but isn't there an increased muscle density as part of the Down Syndrome condition?

Far as I know they just tend to have shorter limbs, shorter neck and more flexible ligaments. "Retard strength"... they have difficulties naturally calculating how much strength is enough to do something. So they use a lot of it. Just in case.